President Biden is scheduled to sign the bill into law this afternoon.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The bill federally recognizes same-sex and interracial marriages and the right of same-sex and interracial couples to marry. President Biden will sign the bill into law today.
“On behalf of the over 280,000 federal workers who make up our union, including our union family in the LGBTQI+ community, we strongly support the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “Love is love, and we commend the members of the United States Senate and House who supported this legislation.”
“This legislation is absolutely vital to the protection of the rights of my fellow members of the LGBTQI+ community, as well as our union family members in interracial marriages. It’s not lost on me that the right for same-sex couples to marry has to be codified into law by the legislative and executive branches, despite the Obergefell decision in 2015,” said Jeremy Lannan, the first openly gay man to hold the position of Vice President for Women and Fair Practices at AFGE.
Two wedding rings on dark, wet surface; image by Zoriana Stakhniv, via Unsplash.com.“Generations of our LGBTQI+ family struggled to win this fundamental right, one that was not freely given. It took decades of fighting to achieve the right for LGBTQI+ Americans to partner with those they love. The fact that this could be taken away in an instant, especially during a nationwide rise of homophobic and transphobic violence and prejudice, proves just how much further we have to go as a country. The Respect for Marriage Act’s passage is a step in the right direction, toward building an America where everyone can love who they love, be who they are, and feel safe and respected while doing so.”
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.
For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.
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